Conventionally, as an automatic door sensor installed on an upper portion of a so-called automatic swing door apparatus or the like, a triangulation system safety sensor, for example, has been used (see, for example, Patent Document 1). FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of installation of such a triangulation safety sensor 110 on a swing door 120.
As illustrated in FIG. 8, the triangulation safety sensor 110 ordinarily has a tubular shape, and a sensor module unit (not shown) for detecting a human body or the like is accommodated at an appropriate location within the triangulation safety sensor 110.
In order to ensure safety on an edge (door end) 120a side of the swing door 120, the sensor module unit needs to be arranged near the edge 120a of the swing door 120. Meanwhile, a wiring 121 to a door controller for controlling the swing door 120 to open or close has to be arranged on a hinge side 120b of the swing door 120. In order to prevent, as much as possible, this wiring 121 from being unsightly due to being exposed to the outside, the wiring 121 from the sensor module unit arranged near the edge 120a of the swing door 120 should be covered and hidden as much as possible. This is the reason why the triangulation safety sensor 110 as a whole has preferably a tubular shape.
Also, in order to ensure safety in locations other than the edge 120a of the swing door 120, a sensor module unit may additionally be arranged near the center or the like of the swing door 120. Also in such a case, the triangulation safety sensor 110 having a tubular shape as a whole is advantageous in allowing freedom of arrangement of the sensor module units.
Conversely, however, irrespective of the location on the swing door 120 where the sensor module unit is arranged, the sensor module unit needs to be covered with a detection window 113 that serves also as a front cover. Consequently, the detection window 113 has to be configured to have a length that is substantially the same as the length of the tube of the entire triangulation safety sensor 110.
Such a triangulation safety sensor 110 has features with respect to the following problems.
(1) With Respect to an Operation Indicator Light:
In such a triangulation safety sensor 110, an operation indicator light for indicating operations of a sensor module unit is often provided on the sensor module unit itself.
However, since the number and locations of the sensor module units to be arranged in the triangulation safety sensor 110 have not been fixed in advance, the triangulation safety sensor 110 is often not provided with an operation indicator light on an external surface thereof.
(2) With Respect to an Adjustment Work for Setting a Distance or the Like:
Since manipulation units (such as DIP switches) for configuring various types of settings of the triangulation safety sensor 110 are ordinarily provided on the sensor module unit, operations for configuring various types of settings, adjustment works, or the like are performed, with the detection window 113 being removed from the triangulation safety sensor 110.
There are various setting items for the triangulation safety sensor 110 and, besides, adjustment for causing the triangulation safety sensor 110 to learn a distance setting (a cancellation distance from a floor 123) is needed as long as a safety sensor is a triangulation sensor. After this distance setting has been configured, the triangulation safety sensor 110 is covered with the detection window 113, and therefore, in order to perform readjustment for causing the triangulation safety sensor 110 to learn a distance, the detection window 113 has to be removed again, resulting in very troublesome works.
Examples of a conventional technology for simplifying such an adjustment work and the like include an “automatic door adjustment device” described in Patent Document 2, for example. This “automatic door adjustment device”, however, needs not only to include additionally a handy terminal 2 but also to enable an automatic door control device 16 for controlling the door 6 to open or close to intercommunicate with the handy terminal 2. This thus makes the overall configuration of the “automatic door adjustment device” complicated and can cause a significant increase in cost.
(3) With respect to the case where there is a wall or the like in a direction in which the door opens:
In the case where the triangulation safety sensor 110 is arranged on the side in which the swing door 120 opens, the triangulation safety sensor 110 controls, upon having detected the presence of a human body or an object, the swing door 120 to remain closed or to stop immediately even in the process of opening.
However, as illustrated in FIG. 8, in the case where there is a wall 122 or the like at a location where the swing door 120 fully opens, the triangulation safety sensor 110 detects the wall 122 when the swing door 120 opens at a predetermined angle, so that a defect will occur in which the swing door 120 does not fully open. In order to prevent this defect, conventionally, for example, a door controller determines to cancel a detection signal indicating detection of an object or the like by the triangulation safety sensor 110 when the swing door 120 reaches the predetermined angle, and thereby performs control so that the swing door 120 can fully open.
However, there are some types of door controllers that cannot perform such control. Therefore, adopting another method for performing control is needed such that a detection signal from the triangulation safety sensor 110 is not transmitted to the door controller when the door reaches a predetermined angle (for example, a magnet switch is released when the swing door 120 reaches the predetermined angle so that a detection signal is not output).